🔬 6th Grade Science · Unit 4

Earth's Changing Surface

19 short narrated lessons in 4 chapters, each with pictures, a quiz with a hint and a second try, and an explanation for every answer.

Standards: MS-ESS2-1 MS-ESS2-2 MS-ESS2-3

6th Grade Science · 7 units
  1. 1Earth, Moon and Sun
  2. 2Gravity and the Solar System
  3. 3Earth's History
  4. 4Earth's Changing Surface
  5. 5Water, Weather and Climate
  6. 6Earth's Resources and Hazards
  7. 7People and the Planet
Picture from the lesson “Earth's Layers”
Earth's Layers
Picture from the lesson “Heat Inside Earth”
Heat Inside Earth
Picture from the lesson “Tectonic Plates”
Tectonic Plates

What your child will learn

Inside the Earth

  1. Earth's LayersDescribe the crust, mantle, outer core and inner core.
  2. Heat Inside EarthExplain that heat from Earth's interior drives slow movement in the mantle.
  3. Tectonic PlatesDescribe how Earth's surface is broken into large moving plates.
  4. Plate BoundariesCompare divergent, convergent and transform plate boundaries.
  5. Inside the Earth Review ReviewReview Earth's layers and how internal heat moves tectonic plates.

The rock cycle

  1. Igneous RocksExplain how igneous rocks form when melted rock cools and hardens.
  2. Sedimentary RocksExplain how sedimentary rocks form from pressed and cemented sediment.
  3. Metamorphic RocksExplain how heat and pressure change rocks into metamorphic rocks.
  4. Energy Drives the Rock CycleModel how energy from the Sun and Earth's interior cycles rock material.
  5. The Rock Cycle Review ReviewReview how rocks change from one type to another in the rock cycle.

Weathering, erosion and deposition

  1. Breaking Rocks ApartCompare mechanical and chemical weathering.
  2. Water and Wind Move SedimentExplain how running water and wind carry sediment from place to place.
  3. Building New LandExplain how deposition forms deltas, dunes and beaches.
  4. Weathering, Erosion and Deposition Review ReviewReview how weathering, erosion and deposition slowly shape Earth's surface.

Mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes

  1. How Mountains FormExplain how colliding plates fold and lift rock into mountains.
  2. VolcanoesDescribe where volcanoes form and why they are found near plate boundaries.
  3. EarthquakesExplain how built-up stress along faults is released as an earthquake.
  4. Mountains, Volcanoes and Earthquakes Review ReviewReview how plate motion builds mountains and causes volcanoes and earthquakes.
  5. Unit 4 Test: Earth's Changing SurfaceShow what you learned in the whole unit (Inside the Earth, The rock cycle, Weathering, erosion and deposition, Mountains, volcanoes and earthquakes) by answering mixed questions.

Try a question from this unit

From the lesson “Earth's Layers”

A cutaway circle of Earth, not to scale, with four layers marked A at the outside, then B, then C, and D at the center.

Look at the diagram. Which letter marks the layer made of liquid metal?

  • Layer A
  • Layer B
  • Layer C
  • Layer D
Show the answer

Layer C. Layer C is the outer core, which is liquid iron and nickel. Layer D, the inner core, is even hotter, but the enormous pressure at the center keeps it solid.

Hint kids see after a wrong try: “Start at the center and work outward. The very center is solid, even though it is the hottest part.”

Key words

  • crust
  • mantle
  • core
  • convection
  • heat
  • tectonic plate
  • lithosphere
  • divergent
  • convergent
  • transform
  • igneous
  • magma
  • lava
  • sedimentary
  • cementation
  • metamorphic
  • pressure
  • rock cycle
  • energy
  • weathering
  • mechanical
  • chemical
  • erosion
  • sediment
← Earth's History All 6th Grade Science units Water, Weather and Climate →

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